My garden I don't think has a real big problem with drainage but is a little boggy at the moment & the lawn is kinda mossy, but I think that has more to do with the weather & the previous homeowners lack of lawn maintenance know how, but I'm looking at planting a cherry & a plum tree where the mini conifer & variegated spurge laurel are will these trees pick up the slack or should I plant a third & do you have any recommendations?

Without knowing the size of the garden and the room available to the trees. it's difficult to tell. But the average garden, with the right choice of rootstock, should be able to take several fruit trees. And it really doesn't matter which, as long as you've enough trees in neighbouring garden to cover the pollination groups and the rootstock is chosen to control the size. But every garden should have an apple tree.

Trees won't solve a winter drainage problem - they're not transpiring at this time of year. If it's just this years exceptional weather then it shouldn't be much of a problem, but if it persists you may need to install drains or a soakaway.

Last edited by GeorgeSalt on Sun Jan 06, 2013 10:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

To be honest,it's no time to be assessing how well your garden drains! Not too far from you,if you travel between Bromyard and Ledbury you will see acres of orchards underwater,they're not badly drained it's just been pissing down!!
I'd just plant up and be damned.Obviously prepare your pits well as the trees you're replacing will have taken a lot from the soil.You'll be better off with self- fertile varieties,if you've only got space for a few......Victoria plum on pixie perhaps??

Anyway, we have two cherries, a ‘Stella’ AGM: Sweet, self fertile, dark red fruits for picking in mid-summer and a ‘Morello’ AGM: Self-fertile with dark red fruits excellent for preserves and tarts, heavy cropping, late season for harvesting in July/early August. Not that we see much fruit from either as the blooming birds know the moment they are ripe and steal most of it.

Echo the recommendation for Victoria plum it's an old variety but nothing wrong with that. Funny enough the birds don't take our plums but wasps can be a pain.

Terri x
“I'd rather be a little weird than all boring.”
― Rebecca McKinsey